Alaskan Way Viaduct will be closed for approximately three weeks starting in January. Virtually all schools will be affected. Families and staff should plan for increased congestion and longer travel times during the upcoming construction.

This past weekend, I spent my Friday evening and Saturday in the most valuable way I can imagine, surrounded by a group of young scholars in grades 9-12 who comprise the superintendent’s Student Advisory Board (SAB).

As one of the district’s high-performing middle schools in mathematics, Aki Kurose takes various student-centered approaches to narrow the student achievement gap in historically underserved populations.

Those interested in becoming a school leader—principals or assistant principals—at Seattle Public Schools, will have the opportunity to hear from our superintendent and other district leaders on Tues., Jan. 8.

If your child will be five by August 31, it is time to get ready to enroll for kindergarten. Registration for the 2019-20 school year began Mon., Jan. 7. Read more for important enrollment dates, including school tour dates.

This fall, five Seattle educators were recognized for excellence in teaching as 2018 recipients of the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom Award. The honorees are nominated by their school principal, colleagues, students or student’s families; and selected based on their extraordinary efforts inspire and engage students.

Four software engineers from the Seattle area visited June Park’s class at Washington Middle School to meet with students and share their stories and experience as professionals working in the technology industry.

Recently, I spoke with school leaders at this month’s Learning Leadership Day about the urgency of response when discriminatory actions occur; acknowledging the occurrence and its impact on students and families; and determining the right way to move forward in assuring safe learning environments for our young scholars.

Aaron Smith has been selected as director of nutrition services, a critical position that oversees over 17,250 student lunches and 6,400 breakfasts each day and adheres to the highest level of national nutrition standards and provides many locally sourced fruits, vegetables, and beans daily.

There have been recent changes in how schools are funded in Washington state. While new state funding addresses some critical longtime funding needs, not all state dollars collected from Seattle homeowners will stay in our district.

School districts are funded through state, local and federal dollars. But there’s currently a gap between what the state funds for K-12 education and what Seattle students need. So, every three years, the district asks voters to consider renewing the operations levy. In addition, school construction is primarily funded by local voter-approved capital levies.

In November, schools across the district recognized the unique heritage of this continent’s first people in celebrating Native American Heritage Month. On the morning of November 29, students led a Native Heritage Assembly for their school community at Nathan Hale.